28,189 research outputs found
Identification of Coulomb blockade and macroscopic quantum tunneling by noise
The effects of Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling (MQT) and Coulomb Blockade (CB)
in Josephson junctions are of considerable significance both for the
manifestations of quantum mechanics on the macroscopic scale and potential
technological applications. These two complementary effects are shown to be
clearly distinguishable from the associated noise spectra. The current noise is
determined exactly and a rather sharp crossover between flux noise in the MQT
and charge noise in the CB regions is found as the applied voltage is changed.
Related results hold for the voltage noise in current-biased junctions.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, epl.cls include
Site-selective measurement of coupled spin pairs in an organic semiconductor
From organic electronics to biological systems, understanding the role of intermolecular interactions between spin pairs is a key challenge. Here we show how such pairs can be selectively addressed with combined spin and optical sensitivity. We demonstrate this for bound pairs of spin-triplet excitations formed by singlet fission, with direct applicability across a wide range of synthetic and biological systems. We show that the site sensitivity of exchange coupling allows distinct triplet pairs to be resonantly addressed at different magnetic fields, tuning them between optically bright singlet (S=0) and dark triplet quintet (S=1,2) configurations: This induces narrow holes in a broad optical emission spectrum, uncovering exchange-specific luminescence. Using fields up to 60 T, we identify three distinct triplet-pair sites, with exchange couplings varying over an order of magnitude (0.3–5 meV), each with its own luminescence spectrum, coexisting in a single material. Our results reveal how site selectivity can be achieved for organic spin pairs in a broad range of systems
Variability in Catheter-Associated Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Rates Among Individual Nurses in Intensive Care Units: An Observational Cross-Sectional Study
Catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria (CAABU) is frequent in intensive care units (ICUs) and contributes to the routine use of antibiotics and to antibiotic-resistant infections. While nurses are responsible for the implementation of CAABU-prevention guidelines, variability in how individual nurses contribute to CAABU-free rates in ICUs has not been previously explored. This study’s objective was to examine the variability in CAABU-free outcomes of individual ICU nurses. This observational cross-sectional study used shift-level nurse-patient data from the electronic health records from two ICUs in a tertiary medical center in the US between July 2015 and June 2016. We included all adult (18+) catheterized patients with no prior CAABU during the hospital encounter and nurses who provided their care. The CAABU-free outcome was defined as a 0/1 indicator identifying shifts where a previously CAABU-free patient remained CAABU-free (absence of a confirmed urine sample) 24–48 hours following end of shift. The analytical approach used Value-Added Modeling and a split-sample design to estimate and validate nurse-level CAABU-free rates while adjusting for patient characteristics, shift, and ICU type. The sample included 94 nurses, 2,150 patients with 256 confirmed CAABU cases, and 21,729 patient shifts. Patients were 55% male, average age was 60 years. CAABU-free rates of individual nurses varied between 94 and 100 per 100 shifts (Wald test: 227.88, P\u3c0.001) and were robust in cross-validation analyses (correlation coefficient: 0.66, P\u3c0.001). Learning and disseminating effective CAABU-avoidance strategies from top-performers throughout the nursing teams could improve quality of care in ICUs
Deformation of grain boundaries in polar ice
The ice microstructure (grain boundaries) is a key feature used to study ice
evolution and to investigate past climatic changes. We studied a deep ice core,
in Dome Concordia, Antarctica, which records past mechanical deformations. We
measured a "texture tensor" which characterizes the pattern geometry and
reveals local heterogeneities of deformation along the core. These results
question key assumptions of the current models used for dating
Communications systems technology assessment study. Volume 2: Results
The cost and technology characteristics are examined for providing special satellite services at UHF, 2.5 GHz, and 14/12 GHz. Considered are primarily health, educational, informational and emergency disaster type services. The total cost of each configuration including space segment, earth station, installation operation and maintenance was optimized to reduce the user's total annual cost and establish preferred equipment performance parameters. Technology expected to be available between now and 1985 is identified and comparisons made between selected alternatives. A key element of the study is a survey of earth station equipment updating past work in the field, providing new insight into technology, and evaluating production and test methods that can reduce costs in large production runs. Various satellite configurations were examined. The cost impact of rain attenuation at Ku-band was evaluated. The factors affecting the ultimate capacity achievable with the available orbital arc and available bandwidth were analyzed
Topological partition relations to the form omega^*-> (Y)^1_2
Theorem: The topological partition relation omega^{*}-> (Y)^{1}_{2}
(a) fails for every space Y with |Y| >= 2^c ;
(b) holds for Y discrete if and only if |Y| <= c;
(c) holds for certain non-discrete P-spaces Y ;
(d) fails for Y= omega cup {p} with p in omega^{*} ;
(e) fails for Y infinite and countably compact
Stability of quantum breathers
Using two methods we show that a quantized discrete breather in a 1-D lattice
is stable. One method uses path integrals and compares correlations for a
(linear) local mode with those of the quantum breather. The other takes a local
mode as the zeroth order system relative to which numerical, cutoff-insensitive
diagonalization of the Hamiltonian is performed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Higher twists in polarized DIS and the size of the constituent quark
The spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry implies the presence of a
short-distance scale in the QCD vacuum, which phenomenologically may be
associated with the "size" of the constituent quark, rho ~ 0.3 fm. We discuss
the role of this scale in the matrix elements of the twist-4 and 3 quark-gluon
operators determining the leading power (1/Q^2-) corrections to the moments of
the nucleon spin structure functions. We argue that the flavor-nonsinglet
twist-4 matrix element, f_2^{u - d}, has a sizable negative value of the order
rho^{-2}, due to the presence of sea quarks with virtualities ~ rho^{-2} in the
proton wave function. The twist-3 matrix element, d_2, is not related to the
scale rho^{-2}. Our arguments support the results of previous calculations of
the matrix elements in the instanton vacuum model. We show that this
qualitative picture is in agreement with the phenomenological higher-twist
correction extracted from an NLO QCD fit to the world data on g_1^p and g_1^n,
which include recent data from the Jefferson Lab Hall A and COMPASS
experiments. We comment on the implications of the short-distance scale rho for
quark-hadron duality and the x-dependence of higher-twist contributions.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Molecular depletion times and the CO-to-H2 conversion factor in metal-poor galaxies
Tracing molecular hydrogen content with carbon monoxide in low-metallicity
galaxies has been exceedingly difficult. Here we present a new effort, with
IRAM 30-m observations of 12CO(1-0) of a sample of 8 dwarf galaxies having
oxygen abundances ranging from 12+logO/H=7.7 to 8.4. CO emission is detected in
all galaxies, including the most metal-poor galaxy of our sample (0.1 Zsun); to
our knowledge this is the largest number of 12CO(1-0) detections ever reported
for galaxies with 12+logO/H<=8 (0.2 Zsun) outside the Local Group. We calculate
stellar masses (Mstar) and star-formation rates (SFRs), and analyze our results
by combining our observations with galaxy samples from the literature.
Extending previous results for a correlation of the molecular gas depletion
time, tau(dep), with Mstar and specific SFR (sSFR), we find a variation in
tau(dep) of a factor of 200 or more (from <50 Myr to 10 Gyr) over a spread of
1000 in sSFR and Mstar. We exploit the variation of tau(dep) to constrain the
CO-to-H2 mass conversion factor alpha(CO) at low metallicity, and assuming a
power-law variation find alpha(CO) \propto (Z/Zsun)^1.9, similar to results
based on dust continuum measurements compared with gas mass. By including HI
measurements, we show that the fraction of total gas mass relative to the
baryonic mass is higher in galaxies that are metal poor, of low mass, and of
high sSFR. Finally, comparisons of the data with star-formation models of the
molecular gas phases suggest that, at metallicities Z/Zsun<=0.2, there are some
discrepancies with model predictions.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&
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